The Dragons of Ara, NGC 6188, are part of a large molecular cloud that can be found in the southern constellation of Ara. This emission nebulae, located some 4,000 light years away from us, resembles the shape of several dragons made of pillars of gas and dust.
Not far from the scene of the Dragons of Ara we can see an exotic emission nebula, NGC 6144, created by a hot O-type star, some 40 times as massive as the sun. This central star is supposed to be “only” 3 to 4 million years old, and consumes huge amounts of materials in its way to a catastrophic event, a supernovae, that will ocurre in a near cosmic future. This other nebula belongs to the constellation of Norma.
This image was captured some days ago, this September 2022, during my last night of my recent trip to Namibia. This time I brought my full setup of cameras and telescope in order to capture several deep sky images. I hope I can share those with you soon. I really enjoyed being at Tivoli Astrofarm again, a place full of peace where you can feel closer to stars.
The full image shown above covers an area of 2º59′ x 3º21′ at a resolution of 2.59″/pixel.
Thanks for your time on this website.
Image Details
RGB: (10, 7, 7) x 60″ (24′)
Ha: 23 x 300″ (1h55′)
[OIII]: 16×300″ (1h20′)
Calibrated with darks, flats. dark-flats.
Total exposure: 3h 39′
Moon at 2% (not visible when capturing the images)
Sky darkness: 22,05 mag/arcsec2
Image resolution: 2.59”/pixel
FOV (full image): 2º59′ x 3º21′
Equipment
FRA300 + ASI2600MM + LRGB ZWO filters + ZWO EFW 7 pos + ZWO EAF
ZWO AM5 mount
ASI AIR Plus
Guiding with ASI120MM and ZWO Mini Guide Scope
Software
ASI Air, APP, PIX, TPZ, LR, PS.
Aleix Roig, September 2022
Tivoli Astrofarm (Namibia).